Introduced in 2020, the Junior CrossCar category could well lead to a second consecutive championship for Finland’s Mikael Uitto this weekend in Höljes. This would be an unprecedented achievement, given that no driver has yet managed to retain the Junior title for two consecutive years.
Despite his clear domination since the start of the championship, with no less than 15 wins in the qualifying heats and a total of five first places in the intermediate classification in the seven races contested so far, Mikael Uitto only lies in second position in the overall standings ahead of the Höljes weekend, four points behind his fellow countryman Joonatan Ylilammi.
Indeed, while Uitto has managed to take three wins and four podiums since Nysum, the Finn has lost all the benefit of his excellent season following two successive eliminations during the semi-finals on his home turf in Kouvola last May.
Nevertheless, by snatching a crushing victory last weekend in Norway, scoring a perfect 30 points for the third time this year, Uitto didn’t miss the opportunity to put himself back in the title hunt.
“I don’t think the final result in Kouvola is representative of what I’ve managed to show this year,” Mikael points out.
“I made a lot of mistakes over the weekend. My only desire was naturally to take revenge, and that’s what I managed to do in Norway. In fact, I quickly managed to turn the page after Kouvola. I knew I could do a lot better, and taking part in the Finnish championship also helped me get back on track. It gave me all the confidence I needed for the end of the season”.
This weekend in Höljes, Mikael Uitto will be attempting to defend the crown he won in 2022, before turning his attention to the 2024 season, when he will leave the Junior championship to focus on another category.
“For Höljes, my strategy is simple: if I want to win this title, I’ll first have to make sure I come out on top in the first corner on every one of my starts. As for the rest, whatever the result of this 2023 season, I want to continue in Rallycross. However, I don’t yet know in which category I’ll be competing. We’re thinking about a lot of things, but nothing’s been decided yet”.
